Why John Muir Disliked Hiking But Encouraged The Habit of Sauntering

The past few months I have been practicing the habit of sauntering. I didn’t plan for it to be a habit. I actually resented the limits I faced with my physical body while recovering from an illness. Unable to go on long hiking excursions like I had been known to do in the past, I found myself searching for beauty closer to home as I went on leisurely walks.

I was sauntering.

The Meaning of Saunter

Saunter as a verb means "to walk in a slow, relaxed manner, without hurry or effort." It is also a noun, meaning "a leisurely stroll." To go on a saunter. Saunter comes from an early-English term meaning "to muse or to wonder."

Which of course begs the question – do you wonder as you wander?

Why Naturalist John Muir Disliked Hiking

There is a parable, a story, about naturalist and author John Muir written down by another author, Albert Palmer, in his book, The Mountain Trail and Its Message, that was published in 1911. Albert asked John Muir why he disliked the word, “hiking.”

(Wait! What? Stop the tour bus. Or the pack horse. Or the canoe. The world-famous naturalist John Muir disliked hiking? How is that possible? His bio says that he was known as "John of the Mountains" and was an influential naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, and early advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United States of America. How could he dislike hiking?!)

John replied in his thick Scottish accent that those who called themselves hikers took “great delight in being the first to reach camp and in covering the greatest number of miles in the least possible time. They measure[d] the trail in terms of speed and distance.”

(Gulp. John Muir would not have liked my view of hiking either. I’m all about conquering a mountain in record time.)

In further answering the question, John Muir added, “People ought to saunter in the mountains – not hike!” "Do you know the origin of that word saunter?”

Muir continued, “It's a beautiful word. Away back in the Middle Ages people used to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and when people in the villages through which they passed asked where they were going, they would reply, "A la sainte terre,' to the Holy Land.' And so they became known as sainte-terre-ers or saunterers."

“Now these mountains are our Holy Land, and we ought to saunter through them reverently, not 'hike' through them," Muir concluded.

People who study word origins debate if Muir stated this meaning of saunter as fact or fancy, but the story remains as part of the legend of John Muir who was usually the last man to reach camp, as he had to stop and get on his knees to look at wildflowers, gasp in wonder at the deep blue of glaciers, and wander for days in his Yosemite.

John Muir loved sauntering.

How Are You Doing in Your Own Sauntering?

After that conversation, Albert Palmer concluded in his book that there are those “who measure life in terms of money and amusement; they rush along the trail of life feverishly seeking to make a dollar or gratify an appetite. How much better to "saunter" along this trail of life, to measure it in terms of beauty and love and friendship!"

How are you doing in your sauntering?

I was sharing on FB with someone this week who had experienced a physical accident and trauma several years ago. He is now wrestling with many things, including what he believes. He finds relief in the wilderness and some answers in the silence. In his sauntering.

I am learning to embrace a new life speed in this season. To accept the limits of my humanness as a gift and not to strive against this place and pace of a slower life.

In the book, A Spacious Life, author Ashley Hales asks, “Today will we stop hurrying long enough to pay attention to our own soul and to the quiet voice of God?” A good goal as we saunter.

I am a sojourner with dusty feet. How about you? Are your feet dusty?

Are you sauntering in your own pilgrimage to the Holy Land, a destination that may have nothing to do with geography?

Let’s journey together. 

Quotes and this story of John Muir are found in The Parable of Sauntering by Albert Palmer.

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